kill to live

chapter one

We were all sitting in the abandoned classroom, waiting for something to happen. The school had been bombed years ago, and the rooms were close to collapsing. I was brought here with my younger brother, Haruto, by two men we didn't know. The run-down room had been empty when we had arrived, but soon filled up with a number of different children with ages varying from elementary to teens. No one had really talked, or moved even, since we were taken here.

14 days have passed, two whole weeks. Food was brought to us three times a day, but it didn't make much of a difference. Many of us were starving; too shocked to eat. I, along with two others, alone took the meals they provided. Haruto wouldn't eat, no matter how hard I tried, he was slowly starving to death right in front of my eyes.

My brother hadn't moved from his spot since we had arrived. He hasn't spoken a word either; he only looks out of the grungy window with a blank stare. His maroon hair clumped together, stuck to the sides of his head. Blood caked on his cracked fingernails; his hands were shaking badly. His condition has been steadily worsening since the incident two weeks ago, although I doubt that I was in much better shape.

I took his hands in mine, trying to reach and calm him, "Everything will work out, okay? It'll be okay."

My words didn't faze him at all, but it did bring someone else over, it was a girl who looked about my age. She had long black hair that was braided down her back, twigs and leaves stuck out from it as if she had been running through a forest; her eyes were a gray blue color that looked like rain clouds swirling around in circles.

"You shouldn't lie," she said quietly.

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't honestly think that we'll be okay! We've been trapped here for two weeks now!"

"We're not dead though."

"Not yet, but it's only a matter of time."

I hated to admit it, but she was right. By the way things were turning out, only three of us would survive long enough to find out why we were even kidnapped.

"We'll escape."

"We might, but he won't," she said, gesturing towards Haruto.

"No, he's going to make it out of here."

"He won't be making it out of here if you can't even get him to eat," she answered softly.

"He'll eat!"

"Lunch should be here shortly, you can show me how much he'll eat then," she turned to leave, but I stopped her.

"Who are you?"

"Someone who doesn't think dying here is a good use of my life."

"None of us want to die here."

"But most of us have given up, most of us didn't even try. They just went along with our kidnappers, not really even caring that they were being taken by people they didn't know."

"That's not," I stopped, Haruto and I hadn't given up a fight, but it was because we were focused on other things.

"Save it. Look at it this way, has your friend there moved once since getting here?"

"He walked to the window..."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know."

"Well has he?"

"No."

"The same goes for a lot of people here. You, me, and Kage are the only ones who are trying to stay alive right now."